Mini-Viva Modifiers

In a few months it will be five years since I first published 7776 Mini-Vivas – a little game to play and get practice for the kinds of discussion you might face in the viva. I’m going to do something special to mark five years since I made it, but I don’t know what yet!

Since making 7776 Mini-Vivas I’ve made a small printed version, adapted it in several ways and occasionally shared other posts here with particular question sets. You can use it as a reflection tool, as conversation practice and as a means to rehearse key questions or ideas.

Take a look at 7776 Mini-Vivas if you haven’t already; explore the resource and think about how you could use it to get ready for your viva. I’ve been thinking about ideas for variants on the concept a lot lately. If you’re looking for more fun ways to use it, here are six:

1. Reverse: roll dice but then start with the last question and work backwards.
2. Extra: for a longer mini-viva, get a second person to ask another question from each set.
3. Keywords: take twenty seconds before responding to write down keywords to help your response.
4. Five Minutes: take a question from each set and use them as the backbone for a five minute presentation.
5. All The Ones: take a single sheet of paper and use question 1 from each set to write a summary of your research.
6. And All The Sixes: take a sheet of paper and use question 6 from each set to reflect on the more challenging aspects of your PhD.

How else could you use the idea of having a mini-viva or two to help you get ready?